


Flicker

by Princex_N



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Gen, Panic Attacks, Past Character Death, Spoilers for stuff learned in The Eleventh Hour chapter 8, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 12:17:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8489356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princex_N/pseuds/Princex_N
Summary: It happens in a matter of seconds. 
  
  One second, Taako is walking ahead through the cave. 
  
  The next, the cave is collapsing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i cried so fucking hard at magnus' part of episode eight holy shit,

It happens in a matter of seconds. 

One second, Taako is walking ahead through the cave. 

The next, the cave is collapsing. 

The rocks are piling up, and Magnus... 

_Magnus is on the road leading into Raven's Roost and the first thing he notices is the collapsed tower before the smell of destruction and death and blood and dust hits him._

He can't see Taako at all and he surges forward and -

_He's running through the streets, screaming her name and no one replies. He stops only briefly to ask if people have seen her, and they all give him the same look of unbridled pity. He runs to the tower next, she might be waiting there, she might be hurt, he has to help her._

He's digging through rubble and  _his hands hurt and he can't find her. He doesn't know how long ago this happened, she might be buried and he has to make sure that she's okay. His hands are aching and bleeding and he ignores it. He ignores the voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like her that tells him that he needs to take care of his hands. He would break his hands a thousand times over just to find her. He's going to find her, she's going to be okay, and the two of them are going to be able to find Steven together_. 

He's digging and he's ignoring the hands that are trying to pull him back away from the rubble.  _He fights them off, trying not to hurt them, because he doesn't want to hurt people he just wants them to leave him alone. She's here, she's going to be okay, and he's not going to be able to find her if they don't back off._

_He knows that she's okay, because he would have **known** if something had happened to her. She was everything; there was no way that Magnus wouldn't have known if something had happened to her. So that means that she's okay. She's okay, she's okay, she has to be okay. _

His hands are bloody messes and  _there are people trying to hold him back and he's yelling because_ he hasn't found him yet, he has to find  _her, she's going to be okay._

 _There is a mess of brown hair spilling out from under a chunk of cement_. 

And Taako is there, his blond hair disheveled as he forces his face into Magnus' line of sight, speaking loudly. "Hey!" his hands coming up to frame Magnus' face and force the man to look at him, "Hey, I'm okay. I'm right here. I'm okay. Holy _Shit."_

Magnus can't catch his breath, he looks around wildly, confused. He was in Raven's Roost. He was looking for her.

But that's not right. He's in Refuge, at the quarry, he was looking for Taako.

Taako, who's kneeling in front of him, on top of the rubble that Magnus had been frantically digging through. His hands ache and the pain is so familiar and he looks at them and they're bloody. He's dizzy. He can't breathe.

"Hey, no, we're not doing that again." Taako orders firmly, "Breathe." His hands are tight around Magnus' wrists, and Magnus focuses on the pressure as he gasps for breath and tries to think.

He's in Refuge, at the quarry. The cave had collapsed, Taako was inside. Or, he wasn't? He's kneeling in front of Magnus, clean and seemingly unharmed. He's okay. Merle is hovering at the edge of Magnus' peripheral vision, looking worried. They're both okay, neither of them are hurt, Magnus didn't fail.

Taako fishes a small rag out of one of his pockets and starts to wipe the blood off of Magnus' hands. Magnus can see the moment when Taako notices the starkly light scars that litter his hands, achingly similar to the newly formed cuts.

Taako doesn't say anything, but he traces one of the scars carefully with a ring adorned finger.

Magnus' voice is shaking when he says, "I'm really glad you're okay."

Taako's gaze flickers away from Magnus' hands to meet his eyes, and his voice is slightly distant when he says, "Me too." Magnus wonders what he's thinking, and what he figured out.

Because Magnus hasn't told them yet, what happened. But after this, it's only a matter of time. He has been thinking about telling them for a while now. Julia would have liked Taako and Merle, Magnus wants to give them a chance to know who she was. Maybe. He doesn't know yet.  

But Merle heals Magnus' hands despite the fact that the loop is about to restart, and Taako sticks close to Magnus for the rest of the loops, and Magnus knows that the closeness is meant to reassure him. 

And Magnus is a friendly person, but friendliness and trust are two different things, and talking about Julia requires a lot of trust to get the words out. And Magnus has known for a while, but it's good to remember that these people are people that he can trust with anything now, because these people are family.

It's nice to have a family again. 

**Author's Note:**

> in case someone was wondering, Taako noticed the cave collapsing and used Blink to get out of there before he got hurt.  
> [my tumblr](http://www.princex-n.tumblr.com)


End file.
